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What Matters Most To Your Employees?

Many employers tend to think that employees respond most intensely to the idea of more money but, according to a blog I was just reading, there are lots of other things that motivate employees to work harder, do a better job and go the extra mile. While the blog that I read, from Danielle Lackey, the CEO of the Arbia Group (a group of lawyers), does talk about money, she sites many other things that motivate employees. Autonomy is one of the things that people are looking for. Though employees cannot expect total autonomy when working for someone else, it will help if employers can find ways to empower their people, so they have some feelings of autonomy.

Different generations are looking for different rewards. A recent article in INC magazine, by Brian Halligan, tells us that we, of the older generation, “build our companies’ culture around the things that motivated our generation, money, career progressions and retirement plans. The Millennial generation has an entirely different consideration set for motivation, and given that they already comprise more of the workforce than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, we need to invest, time, money and energy into creating workplaces that Millennial employees will love.”

According to the Arbia blog, “A number of recent studies reveal that the members of this generation are far more motivated by an employer’s mission than by the money they make.” Additionally, Millennials will work harder if they are learning as much as possible and affecting change. So keep your younger employees learning, and give them new tasks and new challenges, to keep them happy.

Regardless of the age of employees, it helps to ask them what motivates them, before making assumptions as to what it is. Make them part of the process and you will find you have much more buy-in for your incentive packages.